Doctors slam Golden Dawn's all-Greek blood bank as insane

Athens
-
A proposal by Greece's far-right Golden Dawn (Chrysi Avgi) for an all-Greek blood bank, has been slammed by health officials as insane, illegal and racist.

Golden Dawn, the far-right political party which garnered seven percent of the vote in the recent Greek elections, has proposed an all-Greek blood bank. According to Euronews Golden Dawn has called for volunteers to donate blood “only for Greeks who need our help.”

The party released a statement saying “All the bottles of blood we collect will be handed over to patients we choose and to no one else. This right to choose belongs not just to Golden Dawn members, but to all volunteer blood donors.”

George Papageorgiou, of Golden Dawn's green ecology wing, announced that Sotiria Hospital was operating a Greek only blood bank. Athens News reported that several blood donors at Sotiria Hospital, in the Loutsa neighbourhood of Athens, had requested their blood be used specifically for fellow Greeks.

However, hospital head Yiannis Stefanou made it clear that such discriminatory requests would not be tolerated. He said all blood would be "available to any patient in need regardless of race, color, and party."

The proposal was branded as an “insane, unscientific, illegal and racist action” by the National Association of Hospital Doctors (EINAP) that referred to the donation and dispersal of blood as sacred.